Alderwoman wants 5-year ban on immigration detention facilities in St. Louis85%
By Rachel Lippmann0%
2/4/2026, 3:20:01 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and In-Group Bias, with Politically Left Leaning Bias as the most egregious example at 58.4% saturation with 271 hits. Analysis detected 1,030 faulty-reasoning hits from 464 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 76.6% and a BS Rank of 85% (3,393 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 84.50% of the article peer group.
An alderwoman from south St. Louis wants the city to put a five-year ban on approving most detention facilities in the city.
Alisha Sonnier of the 7th Ward will officially introduce the bill on Friday.
It would block city departments from issuing permits or other approvals for nonmunicipal detention centers, such as those that might be used to hold people detained after immigration enforcement actions.
“It's really important that as a city we take a proactive stand and say that we want the development we have here to be something that centers our residents,” Sonnier said.
She added that immigration enforcement is not the only use for detention centers, pointing to a call by authorities in Utah to include beds for involuntary civil commitment at a planned “campus” for people who are homeless in Salt Lake City.
That is in line with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last July that called for the greater use of the civil commitment process.
“I have a serious concern that in the next few years, there will be an effort to criminalize our most pressing issues,” Sonnier said.
Kansas City approved its own moratorium last month after reports that the Trump administration was looking at space for a detention facility in that city.
A spokesman for Mayor Cara Spencer said she was unaware of similar plans in St. Louis but did not say whether she supported Sonnier’s proposal.
Alicia Hernandez, advocacy director at the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project, said it was her understanding that Sonnier’s legislation was preemptive.
“But we also know that when ICE has detention beds available, they will fill them,” she said.
“Immigrants are 2.3 times more likely to be arrested in counties with detention capacity.”
Another advocacy group also supported Sonnier’s stand.
“Local government resources should not be used in ways that create fear and family separation,” said Chris DiPalma, president of Abide in Love-St. Louis.
The recently formed group provides support to individuals detained by immigration agents.
St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-Maplewood, said she and other council members had been in touch with people in the immigrant community about the best course of action in the county.
She said there is no legislation ready for introduction there.
Both Hernandez and DiPalma said they understood the concern that taking a stand against the Trump administration could draw more attention to St. Louis.
“The reality is that these inhumane laws, this mass deportation agenda, is creeping across our cities,” Hernandez said.
“In the state of Missouri, 90% of detentions start with an unlawful traffic stop.
Our people in Missouri are currently being harmed.
I do believe it is in our best interests to protect our fellow Missourians.”
This story has been updated with comments from Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier
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